''Rings'' reigns over ''Two Weeks,'' ''Gangs''

They don’t call it the Ring of Power for nothing. ”The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” racked up $61.5 million over the weekend, beating not only its box office competitors, but its own predecessor as well. ”The Two Towers,” which opened Wednesday, made a total of $101.5 over the week, while last year’s ”The Fellowship of the Ring” made $75 million in its first week (and $47.2 million over its first weekend), according to published reports.

In any case, ”The Two Towers” ? already nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture — easily bested the week’s No. 2 movie, the Hugh Grant/Sandra Bullock comedy ”Two Weeks Notice,” which opened with a better-than-expected $14.4 million. Meanwhile, last week’s No. 1, J. Lo’s ”Maid in Manhattan,” slipped to No. 3 with $11 million.

Martin Scorsese’s long-delayed, much-discussed ”Gangs of New York” was the weekend’s No. 4 movie, scoring $9.1 million in limited release. Its per-screen average was an encouraging $6,064 — higher than ”Two Weeks”’s $5,229 average, but way below ”The Two Towers”’ phenomenal $16,980. ”Gangs” will get a wider release on Christmas.

The rest of the top 10 was: ”Drumline” ($7.6 million) at No. 5, ”The Wild Thornberrys Movie” ($6.1 million) at No. 6, ”The Hot Chick” ($4.5 million) at No. 7, ”Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” ($4.46 million) at No. 8, ”Star Trek: Nemesis” ($4.4 million) at No. 9, and ”Die Another Day” ($4 million) at No. 10.